Members of the county's finance and courthouse and property committees met Thursday night to discuss future plans for county buildings, as well as financial issues with Heritage Medical Center as the hospital nears its opening date.

"We have been in negotiations with Heritage to where this transition will be smooth," said County Mayor Eugene Ray.

Ray said the hospital management company and the county have been working on exchanges, such as the county providing transport of the patients from the old facility to the new, and Heritage providing a kitchen for the nursing home.

One of the plus sides for the county involves unexpected revenue from the Medical Arts building.

"We found out they have about eight doctors over there, new doctors at Medical Arts, but we've not been getting revenue from them," said Ray. "They thought maybe it was in the contract but (County Attorney) John T. Bobo said it was not in the contract."

The amount owed, said Ray, was about $180,000, and would be a serious factor in negotiations.

"We're trying to set it up so that no money has to change hands," said Ray.

Ray also brought forward the question of surplus buildings: Medical Arts; the old hospital, the old Central High School (Harris Middle), and its ball fields and gym; and the Home Health building.

At 3,500 square feet, good parking and good condition, the Medical Arts building should not be sold, Ray said.

"Central High School would like to use the Medical Arts building for seniors," said Ray.

He also listed plans to move some county offices to the site, as well as using it to host to proposed MTSU classes.

"I agree, except for the MTSU thing," said Linda Yockey, a county commissioner who serves on the hospital committee. "They need to be a very visible site, not just stuck back in a corner somewhere."

Ray said the MTSU project, if approved, would start small, and grow.

"We've got a lot of big ideas," said Roger Brothers, chairman of the budget and finance committee. "What we don't have is the money."

Motions were made to issue RFPs (requests for proposals) for the possible sale of the old hospital and the old school -- with certain limitations. The county plans to lease the ball fields and the gym to the city of Shelbyville for an indefinite time, as long as they are used for recreation, said Brothers. And the kitchen of the old hospital must be accessible for the nursing home.

The old school, which school board director Ed Gray said costs about $75,000 a year in maintenance alone, had been dismissed as the site of a judicial complex.

"It would take $5 million to renovate it," said Gray.

The proposed judicial complex, which would bundle the new jail, courts, and related offices, would require more acreage than found at the old school, which also lies partially in a 2,100-year flood plain, said Brothers.

"I think we need to take a bulldozer and push it down," said one commissioner about the school.

Several commissioners expressed concern for the amount of money the county is paying on leases for various offices and facilities. The mayor said some of that could be alleviated by moving some of those offices into the Medical Arts building.

The commissioners also recommended a feasibility study on the old hospital to see if it could be converted to assisted living apartments and a possible source of revenue for the county.

"Whatever we do, we need to move quickly," said Commissioner Mark Thomas, who said when buildings are left empty, they are subject to rapid deterioration, pest infestation and vandalism.